Posts from Demon invasion.

Pao Archipelago. I captured all the castles. I watched three videos. Nothing happens next. I can't move around. What should I do?

I understand that my comments and playing this campaign are a bit outdated, but still :D
The first campaign about the League of Shadows was playable, difficult, long, with replays and restarts, but it was passable; I played it to death and spent a total of 100+ hours on it. Here, I restarted the first part of the map for a very long time until I finally got a leader and spent 40k on the mentor (I didn't even count how many attempts it took). I understand that the author tried his best to minimize the importance of randomness, the must-have artifact is a wonder, but without a defense roll at the first levels, most stacks won't be broken, and if the starting stacks can't be broken, it's just a restart. Then, I honestly don't understand what kind of wizards are sitting here on the forum, but I only managed to defeat the angels and the library when I managed to find the Tome of Power along with the Artifact and the leader of that faction, and even then, one stack of imps remained in a slot. I defeated the rest of the demons only by the fourth month because I had to run around all the castles where two of them were stationed. But then an even bigger problem arose because I emerged on the surface, my stats were at zero, the hero was practically naked, and there were stacks of hundreds around me. Cerberuses, furies, harpies, and other pleasant creatures; how to defeat them with a spell power of 1 and without BPD, not to mention without losses, or even just to win, I honestly don't understand. Reinforcements from the Castle don't seem to help either; the stacks are huge and extremely unpleasant; I don't know how to kite and defeat them. If I try to get out of the valley into the snow, there are hundreds of wolves. And all this with a warrior. I watched a walkthrough of the map, but there the spells dealt 4 times more damage and cost 5 times less, so it's some kind of nonsense.
In general, dear wizards, I have read almost all the discussions and seen the builds, but I'm just stuck at the very beginning, so I earnestly ask, maybe someone can just write down at least an approximate plan for completing the game and in what direction and within what time frame I should move and where? I would be very grateful.

I somehow missed this comment. I understand that a lot of time has passed. In the end, was the problem resolved or did it remain?

Added 4 minutes ago

I don't remember the map very well anymore. It is desirable to complete the lower part as quickly as possible. I have a few questions:
1. Does the hero have his special spells? (hell wave, devilish strike, etc., as well as the call of Urgash)?
2. Are there any modifications installed (EWA, for example) or third-party maps that are mods?
3. What happened before the transfer to the surface? (did you attack the last demon or did he attack you? This may be important).

Yes, spells and the master ability are definitely present; I don't think it would be possible to get past the first stack (or even that) in the Dungeon without them. As for additional content, the first campaign about the League, as well as the campaigns from the previous parts of Heroes 5, are worth playing.

Regarding the transfer – I attacked an enemy Castle where the last demon was holed up. And in general, the transfer worked as intended (based on the comments in the thread). The stats dropped to 1 1 1 5, and the hero had nothing left except three spells and remnants of an army, but there were too many powerful stacks around. A hundred Cerberi/Furies/Scouts are virtually invulnerable with magic at level 1, because 60 damage from a Wave of Fire is really insignificant. There were also three hundred zombies, which could theoretically be kited, but spending 40 minutes on that is too much for most players.

Finally, I managed to more or less successfully complete half of the first mission, although I couldn't finish it due to endless replays with the awful stacks of dwarves that are everywhere. Well, and, accordingly, very useful (but not necessarily) subjective feedback :D

I wrote above about randomness, but I realized that I greatly underestimated it in this map. Level up to 3 - hello, education; cleared everything around the castle up to the assassins at the center - 7 (!!!!) points appeared in speed. Just 7 raw points of magic power and +3 from the artifact, yes, I was crushing everything alive. I defeat the hunters, hello, strength under the protection of un-nerfed titans. In general, I disintegrate everything alive on my path with one or two waves of fire and the apotheosis of a cloak with +50% fire damage, just, curtain, 21 speed, 1140 damage from a wave of burning. Of course, I knock down the door to other demons and, with the initial stack of imps, I complete the first part of the map in 2 months and 1 week without even entering my castle.

The second part of the map, the stats are distributed as 2 0 3 2, there are absolutely harmless stacks around, like swordsmen and liches, and, just like a cherry on top - again, I got a level up after level 4, and there was also an artifact worth 1k gold guarded by un-nerfed skeletal dragons. Of course, I clear everything that was there before the reinforcements from the Chaos Citadel and finally get to the main gameplay of this mission. However, at this point, my luck in the casino ran out, and I also made one big mistake when I tried to catch the leadership skill again and go through spells again, but nothing came of it, I couldn't find any artifacts for speed, nor the leadership skill itself. I went into darkness - not a single decent high-level spell (managing to catch Unholy Word from the other 5th-level spells and Dragon Utopia at the same time - this is clearly a great start), in short, the build is depressing, I didn't manage to find any useful artifacts (the ring for machines was nice in the cart), the battles were extremely difficult and slow, I had to replay a lot, and in the end, I gave up on the second garrison before the coveted mentor.

In general, to summarize, author, if you are going to update the campaign, I really ask you to make it less dependent on luck. Given that the gameplay of this map assumes a build exclusively through magical power and 3 spells, some suggestions could be: a scripted sorceress with protection/level up at the beginning, points for +1 speed, maybe certain artifacts are needed, and in general, all custom stacks behind the garrisons and with 7th-level creatures, because sometimes, as soon as they spawn, it's immediately clear that they can't be defeated (in the tower of the sorceress, unicorns spawned, djinn 75%, on strong artifacts, devils and elven dragons, etc.). The map is very and VERY dependent on the distribution of points in characteristics, the ideal start is described above, but before that, there were 3 unsuccessful attempts, and in one, it turned out that after 20 levels, only 1 (!!!!!!) point appeared in speed, and in the end, there were 4 (3 from the artifact) to clear the nasty stacks behind the garrisons. And then, I won't claim, based on my unprofessional knowledge of combat skills, but either the stacks (20+ infernal titans with spells), or at least their number (~50 x3 angels (?!?!)) at the portal and library would also be good to change, because they are only defeated under ideal conditions, both in terms of the build and the battlefield (and what kind of trash is happening on heroic difficulty is terrible to think about).

Then, the second part of the map on the surface also desperately needs clearly defined stacks and maybe artifacts, because one bad spawn, and you go to restart. An unsuccessful distribution of points, and you go to clear hundreds of units with 1 speed. Then, the small amount of magic in the hero (if, of course, you were not lucky with the basic distribution) gives almost no chance to break through the garrisons with magic without unpleasant losses, and playing immediately through the army and reinforcements from the Chaos Citadel is months of waiting, and the opponent has legions at the end. I won't claim, but the mentor, at least one garrison closer, would give hope for correcting mistakes and more advantageous builds at the beginning (and considering what will drop in the guilds from spells, it's a whole field of wonders, so it's simply impossible to predict the corresponding build), and maybe something should be done with the portal stack too (22 immune to magic dragons and flying across the battlefield make you fight in tears, not to mention the rest of the crowd).

Of course, everything above is the point of view of an amateur without deep knowledge of secret tactics, playing as a warrior, and whose ceiling is abusing darkness and raising the dead with BDP*:D, but I was comfortable playing at the same difficulty level and the previous campaign without any particular problems and restarts, so I sincerely hope for improvement and greater playability without losing complexity and interest.

so, the further fate of Sigrif will remain a mystery to me*:D

I finally managed to more or less normally complete half of the first mission, although I couldn't make it to the end due to endless restarts with those vile stacks of dwarves that are everywhere. And, accordingly, here is some very useful (though not necessarily so) subjective feedback

I wrote about randomness above, but I realized I greatly underestimated it on this map. Level 3 buff — hello, education; cleared everything around the Castle up to the assassins by the centaur — got 7(!!!!) points in SPD. Just 7 raw spell power and +3 from an artifact, I simply steamrolled everything alive. I take out the trackers, hello Tome of Power guarded by unupgraded titans. In short, I disintegrate everything in my path with one or two waves of fire, and the apotheosis is a cloak for +50% fire damage; simply, curtain call, 21 SPD, 1140 damage from a wave of firebreath. Of course, I kick the door down to the other demons and, with the starting stack of imps, finish the first part of the map in 2 months and 1 week, without ever even entering my Castle.

The second part of the map, stats are distributed 2 0 3 2, surrounded by absolutely harmless stacks like swordsmen and liches and, just like the cherry on top — I got the Obfuscate skill after level 4, and there was also an artifact for 1k gold guarded by unupgraded skeletal dragons. Naturally, I clear everything before the reinforcements from Shio arrive and finally emerge into the main gameplay of this mission. However, that's where the casino luck ended, and I made one big mistake when I tried to find a female leader again and go through spells once more, but nothing worked out — I couldn't find SPD artifacts, nor the leader herself. I went into Darkness — not a single decent high-level spell (managing to catch Unholy Word among the other 5th circle spells and Dragons from Utopia simultaneously is clearly a great start); in short, the build is dull, didn't find any useful artifacts (the ring for machines in the wagon was a pleasant surprise), battles were extremely sluggish and difficult, I had to do a ton of restarts, and in the end, I gave up at the second garrison before the coveted mentor.

In general, to sum up, author, if you are going to update the Campaigns, I strongly ask you to make it less dependent on luck checks. Given that the gameplay of this map assumes a build exclusively through magical power and 3 spells, some possible suggestions could be: a scripted witch with Protection/Obfuscate at the start, points for +1 SPD, maybe certain artifacts are needed, and generally all custom stacks behind garrisons and with level 7 creatures, because sometimes as soon as they spawn, it's immediately clear they can't be broken (horses and djinn spawned 75% of the time on the wizard's tower, devils and elven dragons on strong artifacts, etc.). The map is very and VERY dependent on how points are distributed into characteristics; the ideal start is described above, but before that, there were 3 failed attempts, and in one case, only 1(!!!!!!) point in SPD came in 20 levels, and as a result, there were 4 (3 from artifacts) to clear those vile stacks behind garrisons. And later, I won't claim based on my non-professional knowledge of battle mastery, but either the stacks (20+ damn titans with casts), or at least their number (~50 x3 angels(?!?!)) near the portal and library should also be changed, because they can only be broken through the most ideal conditions both in build and battlefield (it's terrifying to think what kind of trash happens on heroic difficulty).

Then, the second part of the map on the surface also desperately needs clearly defined stacks and maybe artifacts, because one bad spawn and you're heading for a restart. Poor distribution of points, and you're miserably clearing hundreds of units with a fork with 1 SPD. Then, the low amount of spell power for the hero (unless you're lucky with the base dump again) gives almost no chance to break garrisons through magic without unpleasant losses, and playing immediately through the army and reinforcements from Shio means months of waiting and an enemy with legions at the end. I won't insist, but putting the mentor at least one garrison closer would give hope for correcting mistakes and more profitable builds at the start (considering that what drops in the guilds for spells is a complete game of chance, a corresponding build is simply impossible to predict), and maybe something should be done with the portal stack too (22 magic-immune dragons flying across the whole battlefield make you fight in tears, not to mention the rest of the mob).*

Of course, the above are all the viewpoints of an amateur without deep knowledge of secret tactics, playing on warrior, and whose ceiling is abusing darkness and raising dead with BDP*, but I was comfortable playing on this same difficulty level in the previous campaign without any special hassles and restarts, so I sincerely hope for improvement and greater playability without loss in difficulty and interest.